Off-highway load hauling machines, such as mine or quarry trucks, typically include a heavy metallic frame supported at the front and rear by two or more sets of wheels, a truck bed pivotable at the rear end, and an engine to move the truck. Such off-highway machines typically carry very heavy payloads, for example, several tens to hundreds of tons of material such as sand, gravel, mining materials, etc. Further, an off-highway truck typically travels over undeveloped and unpaved roads, which typically do not have a smooth or flat surface. As a result different amounts of ground load may be reacted through the wheels of the truck on different portions of the truck frame.
The frame for an off-highway truck typically consists of heavy gage metal beams and plates welded together and designed to support the weight of the payload and to withstand the torsional and other stresses induced by the uneven ground loads. These structural requirements make the frame heavy. Any prime mover used to move the truck must not only move the weight of the payload, but also the weight of the truck frame. To improve fuel efficiency of the prime mover and reduce the cost of operating such machines, it is desirable to decrease the weight of the machine while improving the machine's ability to carry higher payloads and also withstand the stresses generated during operation.
One attempt to address some of the problems described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,364 of Nechushtan that issued on Sep. 21, 1999 (“the '364 patent”). In particular, the '364 patent discloses a space frame for a low profile light truck. The space frame of the '364 patent includes triangulated tubular structural members connected to each other to form a support structure for a passenger compartment. In particular, the '364 patent discloses vehicles using the disclosed space frame for transporting passengers.
Although the '364 patent discloses a space frame for a vehicle, the disclosed system may still be inadequate for off-highway load hauling machines. For example, the system of the '364 patent is directed to vehicles that transport people The system of the '364 patent, however, does not address the problem of carrying payloads that may significantly exceed the machine weight. Further, the space frame disclosed in the '364 patent may not optimally balance the structural loads arising from the payload in comparison to the forces generated by the ground loads of the vehicle.
The space frame of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art.